‘Empty Businesses and Tough Times at the Other Border’
‘Immigration policies aimed at controlling the country’s southern border are also making it harder to cross up north.’
In this stretch along New York’s northern edge, Canadian buyers once offered a lifeline to small businesses as the local population declined, generating more than half of the economy in Malone, N.Y., according to its chamber of commerce.
“The northern border is the longest land boundary between two countries in the world, with about 400,000 people and over $1.6 billion in goods crossing through it daily. Customs and Border Protection officials disputed claims that it has gotten tougher to travel across it.
“As far as our enforcement posture, nothing has changed,” said Aaron Bowker, a supervisory Customs and Border Protection officer in Buffalo, N.Y.
In most populated American areas near the border, which generally cater to vacationers or benefit from proximity to large Canadian cities such as Vancouver and Toronto, the biggest complaints about immigration enforcement have been delays for tourists and more complicated visa processes for businesses.
But the economic stability of some small border towns in upstate New York has hinged on luring a steady stream of Canadians to their Main Street businesses.
Decades ago, the area around Massena and Malone was a booming industrial belt home to companies such as Reynolds and General Motors. By the time General Motors closed its doors in Massena in 2009, the region had deteriorated into a string of struggling small towns, home to an aging population with little spendable income. “
- Excerpt from article by Christina Goldbaum, The New York Times
Ginger Pritchard sets a table at Nancy's Village Cafe in Malone, N.Y., on October 17, 2019. Pritchard has worked as a server at the cafe for 12 years.
Nancy Davis, owner of Nancy’s Cafe in Malone, N.Y., said that just two or three years ago, half her customers were Canadian. “They kept us busy, especially Saturday mornings. Now half those customers aren’t coming,” Ms. Davis said. “What does that mean for our future? I don’t know.”
Malone, N.Y.
Nate Lashomb, executive director of the Greater Massena Chamber of Commerce, Massena, N.Y., October 16, 2019.
Laura Hammill, manager of the Malone Golf Club restaurant, Malone, N.Y., October 15, 2019.
A view of the bridge from Cornwall, Ontario, to Massena, N.Y., photographed on October 17, 2019.
Above: Alyssa Baird Payette, of Cornwall, Ontario, once frequented St. Lawrence Centre, a mall just across the border in Massena, N.Y.
Owner Steve Nadeau reads a newspaper shortly after opening for the day at Trombino's Restaurant in Massena, N.Y., October 18, 2019. A significant percentage of Trombino's revenue comes from Canadian tourists visiting from just over the border. “I always assumed we’ll get through the tough periods, but it has been looking grim,” Mr. Nadeau said. “I remember when Massena was the economic engine of the entire county. Now it’s a shadow of what it used to be.”